Monday, 25 November 2013

Email scams

There is almost always one or more email scams going on and this one, highlighted by Mary Herbert, is fairly typical:

I received an email this morning purporting to be from DHL Delivery Services saying that they had attempted to deliver a package to 'the shipping address'. I didn't open the attachment but contacted DHL directly. They have a warning about such emails on their website and their Customer Services Dept. confirmed that the email I had received was indeed a scam.

Any communication from DHL would not have been by email but by text and would have had a 10-digit shipping number: also a card advising me of non-delivery would have been put through our door. Their company is already working to try to prevent these scams.'

I confess to having been unsure as I am in fact expecting a package but the wording of the email was a little strange.

Email is not the secure, private, communication channel that many believe it to be and we should all always treat incoming emails with a degree of scepticism. Do NOT assume that because an email comes from a known correspondent it must be safe. If there is anything "strange" about it at all you should assume that it is unsafe until you have good reason to trust it.